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Bridging a Nation
Bridging a Nation is the third mission of the classic campaign in the game Railroad Tycoon II. The basis of this scenario is the construction of the first transcontinental railroads in the US throughout the 1860s and 70s. The map used for this mission is a modified version of the Western USA standalone scenario. Overview Introduction Spiel If you thought it was tough back east, wait 'til you try to connect to the west! You'll need to use every resource available to reach your goal! Man, metal, and money will only get you so far! You'll need the determination of the original "Iron Men" to make this dream a reality. Wake up, I'm talkin' to you! I don't know about you whippersnappers these days... Now if by some miracle you DO make it, there'll be a celebration around the nation the likes we've never seen! Victory Conditions * Bronze: Connect the two chosen cities and haul 6 loads between the two cities by 1882. * Silver: Also have a company book value of at least $10 million by 1882 * Gold: Also have a personal net worth of at least $8 million, all conditions met by 1878. A loss is triggered if the bronze medal condition is not met by the end of 1882. Available Bonuses * Choice 1: St. Louis and Sacramento * Choice 2: St. Paul and Seattle * Choice 3: New Orleans and Los Angeles This is a campaign in which the victory conditions themselves are altered by the players choice here, in which the cities chosen have to be connected, and loads hauled between them for the Bronze medal condition. The easiest route is probably between New Orleans and Los Angeles (Choice 3), as there is a decent amount of cities nearby to get a good start, and the route west to Los Angeles is fairly flat compared to the other choices. The second-easiest choice is probably St. Louis and Sacramento (Choice 1). The route consists of much more difficult terrain, especially west of Denver, but it is easy to get the company going, because of there being four massive cities in which passengers can be hauled between (Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas-Topeka and Denver) that will make getting the required book value relatively easy. The hardest choice is undoubtedly St. Paul and Seattle (Choice 2). The terrain past the Rockies is similarly challenging to Choice 1, but the cities between the two cities are also much much smaller, so the player will have to rely on cargo other than passengers to reach the $10 million company book value. Starting Situation * Starting Year: '''1862 * '''Player Name: Collis Huntington ** Starting Player Cash: $175K personal cash The player starts with no company, but $175K of cash. 3 AI players have $100K and are likely to start a company. Ending Spiel Well, now that the transcontinental party hasn't died down, there's business at hand in the Southwest. Strategy - New Orleans and Los Angeles As mentioned before, this is probably the easiest choice in this scenario. Overall, this mission is still more difficult than the previous one, due to the fact that there is now a personal finance aspect to the mission, and also the fact that rough terrain is a significant problem that the player will have to deal with. Also, the layout of the large towns in general is very sporadic, while the player must attempt to reach $10 million in company book value. Starting out In this scenario, you get to start your own company, and it's recommended to drag the sliders for player investment and company investment all the way to the right, so you start with $1,870K. This is more than enough to cover a double track route between Houston and New Orleans, which is recommended to be the starting route. Ports in general are quite overpowered in this scenario, and it's helpful if either one of the two cities have a port, as the extra supply should make the start easier and faster. A large station should be placed between Houston and Beaumont, to capture as many houses from both cities, with a sanding/water/oil facilities. Meanwhile, New Orleans should also be a large station, capturing some of Baton Rouge's houses, with just sanding/water facilities. There should be quite a supply of passengers, so buy 3-4 trains, and run them between New Orleans and Houston with 3 passengers cars and a dining car. Make sure they are programmed to always pick up full (red light). 'Stop the Trains' strategy (optional) At this stage, the player can optionally perform the 'Stop the Trains' that in the long run will certainly help with attaining the $8 personal net worth goal. It's possible to win without, but with this strategy the player can easily gain wealth without sucking up company dividend. Immediately sell all company stock while the price is high. After that, see if you can hire either Ginery Twitchell or Rudolph Diesel as your manager (lowers the stock price). With the 3-4 trains currently owned, stop them (with priority settings) a few tiles before they reach their destination on their first run. At the end of the year, the stock price should have dropped significantly. Keep the trains stationary for another year, and the price should end up dropping further down to around $30. At this moment, buy up as much stock as possible (including on margin), get rid of Mr. Twitchell or Diesel, and suddenly it's likely that you own nearly 50% of the company. Start up the trains again, and the sudden influx of profit should drive the stock price through the roof. Both Houston and New Orleans should momentarily have a high amount of supply, which should help to drive profits, and in turn personal net worth even further. Heading West If the player opts not to use the 'Stop the Trains' strategy, then the player will have to use dividend to get the $8 million personal net worth. Each year, it's recommended keep the dividend to roughly 25% of yearly profits. Houston and New Orleans are far enough away from each other that each trip should earn close to $300K at least, so money should come relatively quickly. When $1,200K is reached, extend the line west towards San Antonio. It's probably worth keeping double track at this point, since multiple trains will be using this track even in the short-term. Buy one more train, and run them between all three cities in a triangle. Also reroute a couple of the existing trains to include San Antonio in the route as well. Keep racking up money and within a couple years at most, enough money should be available for the long connection to Los Angeles (requires around $2,500K), which will be made in one giant go. From San Antonio, extend the line single track west to Alpine, and lay a small station with sanding/water facilities. Then bypass both El Paso and Deming and extend the track all the way to Tuscon, and build another intermediate station there. It's important that the track is layed as straight as possible, and in one giant go, in order to allow terraforming to smoothen the route. Weave your way through to Phoenix, and build a large station encompassing the city, and build sanding/water and oil facilities there. Continue south-west towards Yuma (build another intermediate station), and then hug the northern edge of the Saltone Sea, and before connecting to what should be existing track at Los Angeles. The terrain can be tough at times, and it's normal to have a few patches of gradients above 4%. At this stage, upgrade Los Angeles station to a large station with sanding/water/oil facilities. Victory At this stage, if money is tight, the player should issue a couple of bonds, and then start running trains between New Orleans and Los Angeles. An event allowing the 2-8-0 Consolidation to be available will occur in 1866, and it's recommended to accept the deal, since the Consolidation is much better than the American-C on hills, and will perform journeys between New Orleans and Los Angeles by a long way. These trains should each make roughly $1 million each trip, and will help to get company book value to the required $10 million for gold. One should also reroute all existing trains going to New Orleans to Phoenix, in order to prevent useless trains from stealing precious passenger loads. At first, the increased track and engine maintenance may mean that profits may drop to the extent that it becomes negative. The stock price will lower accordingly. Don't panic too much, and just wait for the transcontinental trains to reach their destination and you'll be back on track. The lowered stock price is another opportunity to increase personal net worth, by buying company shares at a reduced price, and then watching the price inflate as the transcontinental trains arrive one by one. When $10 million in equity is reached, the only goal will likely be the $8 million personal net worth, which should be attainable by using all remaining purchasing power to buy the rest of company stock. Otherwise, just raise the company dividend to a high level until the net worth reaches the requirement. Strategy - St. Louis to Sacramento The strategy used with this victory condition is fairly similar to that of the previous scenario, but the terrain is much harder (especially west of Denver). However, the passenger supply is greater in the middle of the map, and this often results in a fast start (making the $10 million Book Value requirement easier). Starting Out When starting the company, take the maximum amount of money possible, and also issue a bond. With this money, it should be possible to construct a starting line between Chicago, to St. Louis and Kansas/Topeka (even while using double track). There's usually not enough room for a large station in Chicago, so medium station with a sanding/water tower should suffice here. It's a similar story in St. Louis; the location of the city being on a confluence will make it hard to build a large station, so a medium station will have to do. Seeing as it is in the middle of the line, a roundhouse is necessary along with sanding and water towers. The final station will be in between Kansas and Topeka, trying to capture as many houses as possible, while still allowing the line to continue west. This station also should have at least a sanding and water tower, a roundhouse if the budget permits. Make sure that a small station is also built at Sacramento; the AI love to build there and this is done just to avoid future complications. The starting line at this stage is very long, and the three stations will produce plenty of passengers. It's a good idea to run five or more passenger trains (3 pax + dining) triangulating between the three cities, and still be oversupplied depending on the economy status. It's generally a good rule that with long routes like these, the train should always be asked to wait for full; this shouldn't be problematic due to the high supply of these cities. Fiddle around with adding more or less trains, but five is usually optimum, and either way will make plenty of money within the year. Once again, it's very easy to perform the Stop the Trains trick to increase personal net worth (see above), though it is completely optional, and not required at all for a victory. Either way, again it's a good idea to buy into the company shares early, and raise the dividend to around 25% of profits throughout the scenario. Heading West Again Within a year or two, the money should be rolling in, as each train should make around $500K or so a year on average. When $2,500K is reached, it's time to build west towards Denver. Double track is still recommended as multiple trains will likely be running on it immediately. It's a good idea to run via Dodge City, and place a small station there, even if it is smaller than four houses, it can act as an intermediate station with sanding and water facilities. At Denver, it's a recommended to build a large station, also trying to include a few houses from Colorado Springs (just like with Kansas/Topeka), as long as this doesn't impede the ability to expand further north from Denver. Again, there will be a large supply of passengers here, so a couple more passenger trains should be built and routed with the existing cities, and 1 or 2 existing trains should have Denver added to their route. There are usually Bakeries and Meat Packing Plants at Kansas and Denver, so nearby Grain Silos and Cattle Farms can be connected to the network as an extra source of profit. Again, it won't be long before there is enough money to continue westward expansion towards Salt Lake City. To avoid the mountains directly west of Denver, build single track north via Cheyenne towards Casper (lay a small station with train facilities), then west towards Rock Springs, Ogden and finally Salt Lake City. As done with stations at Denver and Kansas, attempt to encapsulate Ogden's houses in the large station for Salt Lake City. Again add a couple more trains running between Salt Lake City, Denver and the Eastern cities, though at this stage the amount of money rolling in should be sufficient to complete the rest of mission easy. Check that the dividend is still high enough, and continue to invest your own company, and some of the other companies if they are successful. When there is enough money head south towards Cedar City, which is another large city. It's optional if you want to purchase some more trains to run services to and from there, but either way continue west from here, carefully wrapping around the large Winnemucca mountain until you reach Reno. Add a medium station with engine facilities here, and then carefully find the flattish route down the mountainside to Sacramento (press 'G' for grid view helps), a turnback might be helpful to avoid a difficult gradient at the turn. A medium station will do at Sacramento. Victory An event allowing the 2-8-0 Consolidation to be available will occur in 1866, and it's recommended to accept the deal, since the Consolidation is much better than the American-C on hills, and will perform journeys between St. Louis and Sacramento by a long way. These trains (3 pax + dining) should each make roughly $1 million each trip, and will help to get company book value to the required $10 million for gold. Build a couple of these trains and just wait a year or two, and the goal should be satisfied. If you've kept the dividend high and invested aggressively, the $8 million PNW should have been met. The $10 million company cash should also have been met as well, due to the high revenue potential of the route between Denver and Chicago. Strategy - St. Paul to Seattle This choice is by far the hardest choice available for the player. The terrain is just as hard, or worse than that of the second choice, while the size of the towns along the route are tiny west of St. Paul. This means that the only way to successfully create this goal, is to create a network separate from the St. Paul-Seattle route to generate revenue. Then, using that money, the transcontinental route can be constructed. Start As you'll need to own a lot of your company, consider bond(s) instead of outside investment to provide the starting funds. Watch out for poorly placed industries that shape terrain for the worse. A good starting line is Seattle - Portland - Salem - Eugene. A well positioned large station in Eugene can cover houses of Salem too, and thus provide a decent passenger route between there and Seattle, while you can initially skip on a station in Salem itself. The 4-4-0 American with three full passenger cars can bring about 100k in one such trip. Make one such train full load on both ends, add another with two mail cars and one pax car at half load, and finally a train with one mail and two pax cars at half load that stops in Portland too. The area is rich in logging camps and sawmills, which bring additional income. The Eugene superstation should also consume paper and enable income from this industry line. Do watch out for the gradient from Seattle to the Columbia river - the American can drag only two cargo cars up there. Mid-game Once you amass enough funds, expand the network to Spokane along the Columbia river. The Spokane area can bring some food resources to grow the cities. If needed, use the repeated track construction trick to get lower gradients: Using the tool to build connected track, build a section of track, remove it, build again. Each of the construction actions will change the terrain a bit to make the track more even. Do note this does not magically make all of the gradient go away, it merely redistributes it among the tiles under tracks and around them. First pass usually costs a ton to make the track reasonable, second pass can average out sudden gradient changes, which is desirable too. Another piece of the network can be bringing wood from the mountains between Spokane, Boise and Bozeman to a sawmill and then dumping the lumber in Billings which is large enough to consume a few trains' worth every year. You will be moving all of these loads only down, and let trains return up empty. Depending on terrain, you may have to skip Boise altogether as the gradients will be too steep for any reasonable level of service. Do not hesitate to curve the track back and forth, as well as rebuild it. The locomotives you can build are poor climbers and they will make better time going around slopes instead of headfirst against them. On the east side of map, connect St. Paul with Sioux Falls and leverage the local industries as much as possible to get a profitable network on this side of map. Bringing it all together Once you (again) have enough money, connect all the networks, and move cargo across the mostly city-less plains to increase income. At this point you should also have access to a steel mill to collect the coal and iron sources along the track between Sioux Falls and Billings. Find a way to keep all that track busy! To move passengers according to victory conditions, start a larger number of trains (6-8) with only two passenger cars between St. Paul and Seattle. The income is good, but you need a reasonable speed in the mountains, and robberies are a concern too. Don't keep all the eggs in a single basket. Victory Finally, as all the pieces are in place, milk the company mercilessly, always increasing the dividend up to the limit. Don't think twice to buy back shares too. If you got this far, you can afford overspending company money, and the dividend is limited by available funds - that means likely too slow to let you pump out all of the rocket-like final stage growth. You can meet even the gold conditions. History "By 1860, the U.S. rail system east of the Mississippi River was developing nicely. In the interests of opening the West and building unity amongst the states, the U.S. government passed the Railroad Act of 1864. Large land grants (over 19,000 square miles of land—more than the combined total of the states of Massachusetts, Vermont, and Rhode Island) and subsidies began to flow, making it possible to link the established eastern routes with the fledgling west coast cities. In 1864, thanks to the Railroad Act, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railways began construction in earnest, although both had been incorporated for several years already. The Union Pacific—headed by Thomas Durant, George Train, and the dubious Oaks Ames—began construction in Omaha, Nebraska, while the Central Pacific—lead by Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, Charles Crocker, and Collis Huntington—began in Sacramento, California. As chairman, it’s your turn to face the unique challenges involved in bridging a nation. Your start date is 1862." --Railroad Tycoon II Official Strategy Guide